A SPIRITUAL MRI

Matthew 23:2-3 [The Voice Bible]

“The Pharisees and the scribes occupy the seat of Moses.  So you should do the things they tell you to do – but don’t do the things they do.”

Comment in The Voice Bible:

“Jesus - with the Pharisees listening - uses them as an example of the pious but truly unrighteous.  He calls the people to mind the Pharisee’s words, not their examples, because they talk about righteousness and faithfulness, but they are a faithless and unrighteous crew.”

Some of the most significant evangelical scholars advise us to pay special attention to Jesus’ words to the Pharisees since we – the Church – are likely the ones He would condemn today! 

Ouch!  That hurts!

Do we talk about a way that we do not personally live out or express?  Are we guilty of emphasizing qualities that we don’t actually display through our lives?   Are we the pious but truly unrighteous of our day?  Do we talk the talk, without walking the walk? 

Is this why the American church is in decline and anemic?  Are we posers? 

If there’s any veracity to these hints, we can only correct our posture by aligning our behavior and attitudes with our belief system.  That will likely involve deconstruction! 

It will involve an MRI of our heart, mind and soul!  When and where did we begin to step off the path?  When did we begin to pose?  Where did our path diverge from His path?  When did the desire for affirmation and praise from people displace the desire for the nod of God? 

This kind of introspection can only be made effective through the direction of the Holy Spirit!  The Spirit is the divine detector!  His work in our lives is effortless because it is done from within!  Given the open door to work in our lives, He is like a magnet and will pull all impurities, imperfections, illusions, facades, untruthfulness and pretensions to the surface where they can be confessed, forgiven and eradicated! 

This will not be a pain free process!  We have been far more dependent on these structures than we realize!  They have propped us up and enabled us to survive!  Granted, this was our contrivance to survive and thrive as a respected and revered godly person!  But it was of our own making and not His!  It was a poor substitute for truly living a godly, god-dependent, Spirit-filled life! 

We can do better!  We can live wholer and wholly dependent on Him!  We can avoid self-salvation!  We can – enabled by His Spirit – live dependent on God and truly represent His concerns and purposes! 

And as a result, we can experience peace!  His peace!  The peace that passes understanding!  The peace that rests even in a storm!  The peace that depends fully and completely on God!  Self-abandonment!  Think about that…